Captain America: Civil War

As much as I don’t want to say it, Marvel has handily beaten DC in the hero v hero filmmaking department with this one.

The third chapter in the Captain America franchise, Captain America: Civil War deals with the fallout of the numerous events that have transpired in past Marvel movies, choosing to focus on the idea of what happens when superheroes are left unaccountable for their actions. After a botched mission on international soil, the US and other countries around the world begin to clamor for a better way to keep our heroes in check through a set of laws that will allow the United Nations to oversee and control the Avengers. While Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) thinks this move is for the best, Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) sees it as an unnecessary shackle, effectively hindering the entire purpose of the Avengers in the first place. A fracture begins to develop between our heroes and before long, war breaks out, pitting hero against hero, ideal against ideal, leading to a conflict that could shake the foundation of the Avengers and the superhero community as a whole.

Plus Black Panther shows up…and Spider-Man too, both of which should make you get your ass to the theater ASAP if for some weird reason you haven’t already been sold on this one.

Bolstered by one of the best scripts ever written for a Marvel movie, directing brothers Anthony and Joe Russo have proven that they are one of the only few filmmakers able to deftly mix action, humor, emotion and storytelling in this overly bloated comic book movie landscape. Fine-tuning what I consider to be one of the best Marvel films, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Russo brothers have really out done themselves here. There’s so much crammed into this film that it would have been easy for it to fall into chaos like how most of Batman v Superman panned out, but with more care and attention paid to the story mixed with action that blows the doors off of anything Marvel has done before (I’m looking at you airport brawl scene), and you have a comic book film that will be the pinnacle of what Marvel will need to surpass from here on out.

I have to admit, it was pretty hard to keep myself in check while watching this film. Much like Batman v Superman and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I nerded out so freaking hard throughout these films that upon my first viewings, both the filmmaker and critical side of myself was pretty much slapped down and shoved into a deep corner of my brain, barely allowed to pass a proper judgment. Sitting next to one of my friends who is equally as nerdy (yet not as critical of these films as I am), I was lost in the spectacle of it all, the joy of seeing all of my heroes onscreen at once (and done properly nonetheless), punching each other in the arm every time an Easter Egg popped up or an unexpected event transpired that I never thought could possibly make it to the silver screen in a hundred years. It’s here that a lot of this movie excels, more so than any other Marvel film outside of the first Avengers and the idea of making a comic book movie rather than a movie based on a comic book (there’s a difference) is why Civil War is so much better than it has any right to be. That being said, it took me a while, even after watching, to really dig into what was wrong with the film, but I enjoyed it so damn much from a nerd and average movie goer perspective that a lot of what was wrong with the film (there’s not that much) I allowed to slide.

For all the great aspects in the film, the elements that don’t work are still pretty obvious once you really put some thought into it. Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), unrecognizable from his comic book counterpart, is a pretty interesting villain if you solely look at him based on what motivates him to do what he does to our heroes, but other than that, his master plan banks too much on some pretty convenient plot progression. He somehow manages to trick all of the Avengers into his little game, and while his motivation and endgame is pretty legit, the way we get there seems like a second thought, basically just an easy way for the filmmakers to get to where they want the story to go or to simply set up the next big action scene. And while the action doesn’t disappoint in any way shape or form, it’s clear that those scenes are the bread and butter of the film.

Now I’m not complaining about any of that, but the fact that there’s such a great emotional and philosophical core to the film, it seems a tad strange that so much time is dedicated to just the action. Again, it all works well but when things slow back down to push the story forward, it seems like an afterthought at some points. Don’t get me wrong, there are a handful of great twists and reveals throughout story-wise, but getting there means another set-up for another battle that often gets more screen time than the actual story or main villain. It’s pretty nitpicky of me to even bring this up, but when you have such a strong story, it’s a bit of a shame that certain aspects of it weren’t fleshed out more as opposed to extending another fight scene.

The only other negative-ish thing I have to say about the film is simple: Hawkeye, what in the Hell do you think you’re doing in this movie? They totally should have offed him at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron simply because he’s becoming more and more useless as these movies progress. Jeremy Renner is great as always, but he was more of a means to an end to fuel the action scenes and move certain characters into position for other scenes. The fact that Spider-Man is the best incarnation of the character I’ve seen onscreen and the fact that Black Panther is such a fun and badass addition to the film, I can’t help but repeat: what the Hell do you think you’re doing Hawkeye? Anyway, couple that with a resolution that really doesn’t cap off the movie in any significant way (save for some Secret Avengers nods) and all the strengths of the film get tarnished in a very slight, yet noticeable way.

In the end, Captain America: Civil War is a much more thoughtful film than it has any right to be. While the main villain along with the execution of his master plan is a bit too unrealistic, the core emotion and motivation for a lot of this film is unlike anything tried in a comic book film since The Dark Knight. With action that is truly unique and seemingly ripped directly from the best brawls in the comics and a script that is damn good, Civil War is Marvel at it’s best. DC needs to take note at this point or face being crapped on for the next decade.